Stomp of Approval

There was nothing fancy about the way Sultan McCullough ran the football. He hardly got a chance to show his breakaway speed. Didn’t flash many moves.

But, with his team needing a few yards early on, the USC tailback ran head-on into tacklers and drove for a first down.

And with his team looking shaky in the third quarter, he carried the ball time after time, fueling a drive that put the game away.

“The offensive line was telling me to run the ball down their throats,” McCullough said. “That’s what they were telling me and that’s what I was doing.”

Nothing fancy. But his 128 yards helped No. 15 USC bull past No. 22 Penn State, 29-5, in the Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium on Sunday. His workmanlike 29 carries gave the Trojans the kind of victory they haven’t had in years, a bruising win over an East Coast opponent that was expected to push them around.

While McCullough ran between the tackles, the USC defense showed toughness of its own, holding Penn State to 142 yards, only six yards on the ground. The special teams added three field goals and a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown.

“I just loved the way we played . . . the enthusiasm, the excitement, the emotion,” Trojan Coach Paul Hackett said. “This was about a bunch of guys who wanted to be different from the last couple of years.”

It was the ultimate role reversal, USC playing like it was the 1970s and Penn State shooting itself in the foot with dropped passes, penalties and turnovers.

In other words, it was Penn State looking like the USC team that finished 6-6 last season.

“They scored too quick for us to get settled,” Penn State tailback Larry Johnson said. “It seemed like we weren’t able to get into it as fast as they did and then we had to play catch-up all day.”

Not a good situation for a Nittany Lion team that entered the season with 15 new starters and a quarterback, Rashard Casey, who faces charges in the beating of an off-duty policeman outside a Hoboken (N.J.) bar.

That left plenty of question marks and some people wondering if Penn State deserved to be ranked. The answers the Nittany Lions provided Sunday, before a sold-out crowd of 78,902, were not good.

Two minutes into the game, they let USC safety Frank Strong burst through the line untouched to block a punt. Sandy Fletcher scooped the ball up and scored the game’s first touchdown.

The early lead gave USC time to establish a running game, which was crucial because quarterback Carson Palmer, returning from a broken collarbone suffered last season, looked like a guy who hadn’t played football in a year.

Palmer threw an interception on his second pass, a turnover that led to a Penn State field goal. Thereafter, he looked uncomfortable, finishing with 10 completions in 20 attempts for 87 yards against a soft zone that forced him to search for receivers underneath.

“I never really had my rhythm,” he said. “When the quarterback doesn’t play well, the rest of the team has to respond.”

Enter McCullough, who touched the ball five consecutive plays after Palmer’s interception. After three runs and a short pass reception, he ran up the middle for 24 yards, his longest gain of the day.

The Trojans soon scored for a 14-3 lead.

Meanwhile, Penn State stumbled. Its offensive line repeatedly was called for false starts in the first half. Late in the second quarter, Casey threw behind tight end Tony Stewart and USC safety Troy Polamalu intercepted the pass and returned it 43 yards for a touchdown.

Casey completed seven of 24 passes for 106 yards and the USC defense never let him scramble outside, where he has hurt opponents in the past. Afterward, Penn State Coach Joe Paterno wondered if off-the-field problems took their toll on his quarterback.

“He lacked some consistency,” Paterno said. “He’s capable of playing better than that.”

Still, trailing, 23-3, in the third quarter, Penn State had a chance to get back into the game.

With the USC offense looking tentative, the Nittany Lions started three consecutive possessions near or beyond midfield. But each time, the Trojan defense came up with big plays.

Linebacker Zeke Moreno stuffed Johnson for a yard loss. Defensive end Matt Childers chased down Casey as the quarterback set off on a scramble.

The best Penn State could manage was a safety when Johnson blocked a punt and USC receiver Marcell Allmond fell on the ball in the end zone.

“When you get a chance, you’ve got to make plays,” Paterno said. “We never made any plays.”

So the Trojans, who blew 21-point leads in two games last season, were given a break and they knew it. On the sideline, the offensive linemen had a talk with the coaches.

“We knew the Penn State defense was tired,” right tackle Faaesea Mailo said. “We told the coaches, ‘Let us run it down their throats.’ ”

Hackett was happy to oblige, as was McCullough.

Again, the sophomore tailback took control, running four consecutive times for 31 yards. Palmer contributed a short pass to fullback Chad Pierson, who made a one-hand catch and turned it into a 24-yard gain.

Another short McCullough run set up a field goal that made it 26-5.

“You could feel the momentum start to change and then we shifted to another gear,” Hackett said. “That’s what changed the tone of the game.”

The Trojans entered the season with the intention of splitting carries between three tailbacks--McCullough, Malaefou MacKenzie and Petros Papadakis--until one of them emerged from the pack. McCullough took a giant step forward.

As the Pac-10 champion in the 100-meter run, he has been considered a speedster who lacked grit. On Sunday, while shedding a few tacklers, he also might have shed that image.

“It was the way he was getting the yards,” Hackett said. “He had tough runs inside. He’s learning to be a runner.”

It was simple, McCullough said.

“The coach told me it was my turn to shine,” he said. “That’s what I did.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

BY THE NUMBERS

6: Rushing yards for Penn State

128: Rushing yards for Sultan McCullough, a career high

87: Passing yards for Carson Palmer

3-6-1: USC record in the last 10 games vs. ranked teams in season opener

3-0: USC’s record in season openers under Paul Hackett

3-3: Record against ranked teams under Hackett

6-4: USC’s record in last 10 games against current Big Ten teams

*

Palmer Shows Rust in Return

Carson Palmer didn’t look like himself in his first game in nearly a year, but Diane Pucin says the USC quarterback will quickly regain his form. Page 6

Special Day for Special Teams

USC’s special teams blocked a punt for a score, got three field goals from David Newbury and a strong effort from kickoff man David Bell. Page 7

Players Are Fair-Weather Fans

Instead of a sticky summer day, USC and Penn State played in comfortable conditions. It was a mild 82 degrees and with 67% humidity. Page 7

Thunderstorm Postpones Game

The game between Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech was postponed by a violent thunderstorm that hit Blacksburg, Va., moments before kickoff. Page 5